The government advises that there’s no safe level of alcohol consumption. Unit guidelines are the same for men and women and both are advised not to regularly drink more than 14 units per week. Our online calculator helps you count the number of units and calories in your drinks so you can stay within the recommended guidelines be aware of the number of calories you consume.

Calories in alcohol

Being high in sugar means alcohol can contain lots of calories - seven calories a gram in fact. That's almost the same as pure fat. Calories from alcohol are 'empty calories', meaning they have no nutritional value.

Many people are very surprised by the number of calories in alcoholic drinks - it is easy to make the mistake of thinking that drinks are calorie-free. The alcohol unit and calorie calculator helps you count and visualise the number of calories and units of alcohol you have consumed using descriptive analogies, such as how many burgers does your drinking equate to or how many minutes you’d need to run to burn off your drinks’ calories.

Learn more about the calories in alcohol including ways to reduce the calorie content of your alcoholic drinks.

What is an alcohol unit?

One alcohol unit is measured as 10ml or 8g of pure alcohol. This equals one 25ml single measure of whisky (ABV 40%), or a third of a pint of beer (ABV 5-6%) or half a standard (175ml) glass of red wine (ABV 12%).

Given the wide variety of alcoholic drinks, it can be hard to keep up with the alcohol content of your drinks. This is where our alcohol calculator comes in handy - use the unit & calorie calculator to find out what’s in your drink! Find out more about alcohol units and measures.

Find out more about alcohol units and measures. For more information on the impact drinking can have on your health, take a look at our Effects of alcohol page. If you're worried about your drinking, you should consult your GP.

Can’t find your drink? Learn how to calculate alcohol units

If you can’t find your drink in our unit and calorie counter, work out your alcohol units for yourself with this handy sum: Strength (ABV) x Volume (ml) divided by 1000 = No. of units.

E.g. Pint of Stella: 4.8 x 568 divided by 1000 = 2.7

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